Naming guide

The naming guide for Jarl Media gives instruction on how to find specific people.

Legal names and nicknames

Men on the database are listed by the legal first name and surname and women are named by their married name, even where an individual was better known by a nickname.

For example, current Orkney and Shetland MP Alexander Morrison Carmichael is known as Alistair Carmichael, but his legal name is Alexander Carmichael and so that is the title of the page. However, searching for either Alexander Carmichael or Alistair Carmichael will land you on the correct page due to the redirect system. Another example is Charlotte Nicol, nee Charlotte Stuart. Nicol is the married name and Stuart is the maiden name, but searching for either will land you on the correct page.

For nicknames, the same principle applies. For William 'Floorie' Sinclair, you can search William Sinclair or Floorie Sinclair and it will lead to the same page. See also Ooie Jeemie, Oily Bob for further such examples.

Multiple people with the same name

There are a number of first and last names that councillors have shared over the course of local government. The best example of this is John Robertson. Between 1850 and 1949, four different men named John Robertson represented the council. As such, the main named page John Robertson links to a disambiguation page which displays some vital information about all four so that you can find the correct John Robertson you are searching for.

The four John Robertson pages are therefore entitled: John Robertson (i), John Robertson (ii), John Robertson (iii) and John Robertson (iv). In the case of (i) and (ii) Robertson, neither had middle names, but in the case of (iii) and (iv), both pages can also be accessed by searching for alternative names they assumed (John Robinson) or middle names (John Andrew Robertson | John W. Robertson, John William Robertson).

Numerical suffixes to names are always ordered chronologically in terms of birth date.

Other examples include Robert D. Ganson / Robert Dowell Ganson / Robert Ganson (i) and Robert J. H. Ganson / Robert James Hay Ganson / Bertie Ganson / Robert Ganson (ii).